Method and reaction apparatus for treating object with gas

ABSTRACT

There are disclosed a method and a reaction apparatus which can safely and continuously treat/discharge especially a short object to be treated without any direct contact with a gas atmosphere, and which surely/efficiently treats the object with a gas without any uneven treatment. A short object A to be treated is put in a hermetically sealed cylindrical treatment section  1 . In the treatment section  1 , the object is held in a predetermined position by a first operation piece  11  to be treated with a gas for a predetermined time. Then, the holding by the first operation piece is released to move the object A by a desired distance. Subsequently, the object is held in a predetermined position by a second operation piece  12  to be treated again with the gas for a predetermined time, and then a treated object A 1  is discharged. This discharged treated object A 1  is conveyed to the outside of the apparatus.

This is a divisional application of application Ser. No. 10/700,473,filed Nov. 5, 2003.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for treatingan object with a gas, e.g., a wiper blade for cleaning window glass ofan automobile, a train or the like.

2. Description of the Related Art

There are generally known wiper blades made of rubber/synthetic resins,and surfaces of these wiper blades must be treated. It is because in astate before the treatment, friction resistance is large due toexcessively high adhesion to cause application of a load more thannecessary on a motor, motor locking, and other problems, and wearresistance is extremely low to cause early losses and various otherproblems.

Thus, for example, in the case of treating a wiper blade of a productshape formed by press molding or the like, various treatment methodshave conventionally been employed. One example is that a blade is set ina hermetically sealed container filled with a desired treatment gas(bromine gas, chlorine gas or the like), treated with the gas at adesired temperature for a desired time, and then taken out and washed bywater to be made into a product (Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKOKU Publication No.37-3807).

According to the conventional method, the gas must be completely removedfrom the container in order to take out the treated blade from thecontainer after gas treatment work. Such a method requires time andlabor for gas removal, and consequently a treatment capability cannot beimproved.

There is known another wiper blade which is formed by treating acontinuous object formed in a long shape by extrusion molding with agas, and then cutting it into individual product shapes (Jpn. Pat.Appln. KOKOKU Publication No. 4-19021). Such a method and an apparatushave constitutions suited to continuous treatment of a long continuousobject, comprise a long continuous object in an inclined manner, and areadapted to continuously put the long object in a treatment cylinderfilled with a treatment gas, treat it with a gas in a gas atmosphere inthe cylinder, and then pull it out from the apparatus to sequentiallycut it into desired product shapes. According to the method and theapparatus, since the object to be treated is continuously passed in thegas atmosphere, treatment work can be carried out continuously withoutany gas removal work after the gas treatment different from theaforementioned case. Thus, a treatment capability is high.

Such a conventional art targets a long continuous object, but cannottreat a blade (short object) formed in an individual product shape bypress molding or the like with a gas by the method/apparatus because ofits constitution.

That is, in the case of the short object, it is impossible to hold it inthe treatment cylinder for a fixed time, and then to automatically pullout a treated blade from the treatment cylinder to take it out of theoutside of the apparatus.

Further, for example, if a blade of a product shape is put in theconventional treatment cylinder, because of inclination of the treatmentcylinder, the blade falls to a bottom part in the treatment cylinder byits own weight, and then treated with a gas there for a fixed time.However, if the blade is treated with the gas in the fallen state to thebottom part in the cylinder, a part in contact with a cylinder innerwall may not be treated with the gas to cause uneven treatment.

The present invention has been made with the foregoing problems of theconventional art in mind, and objects of the invention are to provide amethod and a reaction apparatus which can safely and continuouslytreat/discharge especially a short object to be treated without directcontact with a gas atmosphere, and which surely/efficiently treat theobject with a gas without any uneven treatment.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Technical means developed by the present inventors in order to achievethe above objects are as follows:

A method for treating an object with a gas, comprises a step of puttingthe object in a hermetically sealed treatment section filled with atreatment gas; a treatment step of treating the put object with the gasat a desired position in a gas atmosphere in the treatment section for adesired time; a step of discharging the released treated object from thetreatment section after the treatment step; and a conveying step ofconveying the treated object discharged from the treatment section.

In the above method, the treatment step comprises a first treatment stepof treating the object put in the hermetically sealed treatment sectionwith the gas at the desired position in the gas atmosphere in thetreatment section for the desired time; and a second treatment step ofmoving the object in the treatment section of the gas atmosphere totreat the object with the gas again at the desired position for thedesired time, after completion of the first treatment step.

A reaction apparatus for treating an object with a gas comprises atreatment section which includes at least a treatment gas injectionsection, an inlet of the object and an outlet of the treated object, hasa structure in which the object is automatically conveyed from the inletto the outlet, and treats the object with the gas in a hermeticallysealed space; and a conveying mechanism for conveying the treated objectfrom an object outlet position of the treatment section to the outsideof the apparatus, wherein the treatment section comprises a mechanismfor holding the object in a gas atmosphere in the treatment section in afixed place for a desired time.

The above treatment section comprises the mechanism for holding theobject at the fixed place in the gas atmosphere in the treatment sectionfor the desired time, and a mechanism for moving or swinging the objectto prevent unevenness of the treatment.

The above apparatus further comprises at least two operation piecesdisposed back and forth in a direction orthogonal to an advancingdirection of the object in the treatment section to freely move up anddown, wherein the two operation pieces are constituted of a firstoperation piece positioned on the inlet side of the object to betreated, and a second operation piece positioned on the outlet of thetreated object; the first operation piece holds the object in a fixedplace for a desired time to treat the object with the gas for a desiredtime, and then the first operation piece is raised to lower the objecttoward the outlet by a desired distance; and the second operation piecereceives the object passed through the raised first operation piece,holds the object in a fixed place for a desired time to treat the objectwith the gas again for a desired time, and then the second operationpiece is raised to lower the object toward the outlet.

The first and second operation pieces are formed to be differentlengths: the first operation piece being formed to be short, and thesecond operation piece being formed to be long, and the operation piecesare vertically moved by the same mechanism. Furthermore, the first andsecond operation pieces are vertically moved by different mechanisms.

The above apparatus further comprises an operation piece disposed in thetreatment section in a direction orthogonal to the advancing directionof the object, wherein the operation piece is adapted to be swung by aswinging mechanism. In this case, the operation piece may have astructure in which the object received in the treatment section is heldin a fixed place for a desired time to be treated with the gas, swungback or forth in the advancing direction, and then held in a position towhich it has been moved by a desired distance to be treated again withthe gas for a desired time. Furthermore, the operation piece may have astructure in which the object received in the treatment section is swungback and forth in the advancing direction for a desired time to betreated with the gas.

The outlet side of the treatment section and one end side of theconveying mechanism facing the outlet side are positioned in a desiredliquid which has filled a water tank.

The object is a short object formed in a product shape, andspecifically, the object is a wiper blade, and the wiper blade is madeof rubber or a synthetic resin.

The above apparatus further comprises a feeding mechanism and a pressingroller disposed in the vicinity of the object inlet to forcibly feed theobject through the object inlet by holding it therebetween, wherein thepressing roller is adapted to be separated.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an overall schematic view showing an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIGS. 2A to 2C are schematic operation views showing main sections ofthe embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 3A to 3C are schematic operation views showing main sections ofthe other embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 4 is a schematic operation view showing a main section of the otherembodiment of the present invention.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described withreference to the accompanying drawings. The embodiment is onlyillustrative of the invention. Thus, the embodiment should in no waylimit interpretation of the invention. Design changes can be properlymade within the scope of the invention as occasion demands.

FIG. 1 is an overall schematic view of the present invention, in which areference numeral 25 denotes a conveying mechanism of an object to betreated (untreated) A, 1 a treatment section, and 20 a conveyingmechanism of a treated object A1.

Hereinafter, specific embodiments of a method and a reaction apparatusfor treating an object with a gas according to the present inventionwill be described in detail.

According to the gas treatment method of the present invention, a shortobject A to be treated which has been formed in an individual productshape by, e.g., press molding, is put in a hermetically sealed treatmentsection 1 filled with a treatment gas (step of putting an object in thetreatment section).

The object A to be treated according to the invention is, for example, ashort object formed in a product shape. Specifically, a wiper blade,more specifically a wiper blade made of rubber or a synthetic resin canbe cited as representative examples. A well-known shape/material is usedfor the wiper blade within the scope of the invention. The specificexamples are only examples and, needless to say, objects other than thewiper blade can be used properly within the scope of the invention.

Generally, a wiper is constituted of a pair (tandem) until last cutting.Thus, needless to say, the wiper in such a tandem state is included inthe object A to be treated according to the invention.

The treatment section 1 is formed in a long cylindrical shape as awhole, which comprises an inlet 6 of the object A on its upper end sideand an outlet 7 of a treated object A1 on its lower end side and whichis adapted to insert a pipe 35 from a gas feeding section 34 into acylinder 2 (treatment gas injection section). The treatment section 1comprises a mechanism for holding the object A in a fixed place in a gasatmosphere in the treatment section 1 for a desired time, and amechanism for moving or swinging the object A to prevent uneventreatment. According to the embodiment, the treatment section 1 has theaforementioned constitution, and description will be made based on thisembodiment. However, according to the present invention, the treatmentsection 1 can comprise only the mechanism for holding the object A inthe fixed place in the gas atmosphere in the treatment section 1 for thedesired time.

For the gas which fills the treatment section 1, representative examplesare a chlorine gas and a bromine gas, and a well-known treatment gas isproperly selected within the scope of the invention depending on anobject. A time for gas treatment is a well-known treatment time, anddesign changes can be made depending on various conditions of a materialof the object. A temperature in the treatment section 1 may also be awell-known temperature, and design changes can be made depending onvarious conditions of the material of the object.

According to the embodiment, the pipe 35 from the gas feeding section 34is inserted from an upper end side around the cylinder 2 of thetreatment section 1 to feed the treatment gas from a lower position inthe cylinder 2. However, there is no particular limitation on a methodfor feeding the treatment gas into the cylinder 2. For example, designchanges can be optionally made such as a constitution in which the pipe35 is inserted from the outlet 7 side of the treatment section 1 intothe treatment section 1.

The treatment section 1 is arranged in a downward slope of a desiredangle from the inlet 6 toward the outlet 7. On an object sliding contactsurface 3 of its inside, a number of bearing rollers 4 . . . , 5 . . .are arranged at desired intervals from the vicinity of the inlet 6 tothe vicinity of the outlet 7. An inclined angle of the treatment section1 is preferably set to a degree at which at least the object A slidesdown into contact by its own weight.

The bearing roller 4 (5) is made of a material which is a rod of adesired diameter and little friction resistance, and adapted to be fixedor rotated. There is no particular limitation on an interval betweenadjacent bearing rollers 4 (5), but the interval is set to a level whichdoes not hinder the sliding contact of the object A (e.g., fitting ofthe object A between the rollers 4, 4, falling to get stuck on themidway or the like). That is, a reason for disposing the bearing rollers4 in such a manner to constitute the object sliding contact surface isas follows.

For example, if the object A is treated with a gas in a state of beingslid into direct contact with a flat cylinder inner wall 2 a, a surfaceof the object A slid into contact with the cylinder inner wall 2 a istreated while the treatment gas is not completely fed, and consequentlyuneven treatment occurs. Thus, by arranging the bearing rollers 4 atevery desired intervals as in the case of the embodiment, the treatmentgas is fed to a surface a of the object A on the bearing roller 4 sideto prevent uneven treatment.

There is some doubt that the treatment gas may not reach the surface ain contact with the bearing roller 4 to cause the aforementionedtrouble. According to the present invention, however, since aconstitution is employed in which the object A is held in a fixed placeto be treated with a gas as described later, and then the object A isslightly moved or swung to change its holding place, and to be treatedagain with the gas, even the surface a in contact with the bearingroller 4 at the initial gas treatment stage can be sufficiently treatedwith the gas at the subsequent gas treatment stage. Thus, no suchproblems occur. The material of the bearing roller 4 (5) is not limitedto that of the embodiment, but it can be properly changed as occasiondemands. Additionally, according to the embodiment, the rollers 4, 5 arearranged left and right in a cylinder axial direction. However, at leastonly the roller (right roller in the drawing) 4 on which a bottomsurface of the object A slides may be disposed. In a shown state, aninterval between the left and right rollers 4, 5 is small. However, thedrawing is only schematic, and an actual interval between the left andthe right is larger than the shown interval.

According to the embodiment, the object sliding contact surface 3 isconstituted of the bearing roller 4. However, the constitution is notlimited to the embodiment as long as it has a structure in which theobject A is automatically fed from the inlet 6 to the outlet 7 (conceptincluding natural falling by own weight, and this concept appliesthroughout the specification). For example, operation effects similar tothe foregoing can be provided by forming the cylinder inner wall 2 a tobe irregular. This sliding contact surface 3 may be adapted to enablesliding contact of the object A by its own weight, or to be mechanicallyoperated to forcibly convey the object A.

Preferably, the inlet 6, the outlet 7 and the gas injection port areadapted to prevent gas leakage as much as possible by a well-knowntechnology. The entire apparatus should be housed in a hermeticallysealed box 31 of a desired size, and the box 31 should comprise a forceexhaust system (not shown) to prevent gas leakage to the outside as muchas possible.

The treatment section 1 needs to have at least the aforementionedconstitution, an overall size is optional, and addition of othercomponents is freely made which is within the scope of the invention.

A feeding mechanism (belt conveyor) 26 and a pressing roller 28 oppositea pulley 27 on a tail end side of the feeding mechanism 26 are disposedbetween the conveying mechanism 25 for conveying the object A to thetreatment section 1 and the vicinity of the object inlet 6. By the tailend side pulley 27 of the feeding mechanism 26 and the pressing roller28, the object A which has been conveyed is forcibly pushed through theinlet 6 of the treatment section 1.

The pressing roller 28 is connected through a belt 29 to a motor 30 tobe rotated. The pressing roller 28 can be adapted to be separated fromthe tail end side pulley 27 of the feeding mechanism 26. This separationconstitution is applied when a later-described long object is treated.

Then, gas treatment is carried out through the mechanism for holding theobject A put into the treatment section 1 in a fixed place in gasatmosphere in the treatment section 1 for a desired time and themechanism for moving or swinging the object A to prevent uneventreatment (first treatment step, second treatment step).

The mechanism for holding the object A in the treatment section 1 andthe mechanism for preventing uneven treatment are used in a firsttreatment step of treating the object A with a gas in a desired placefor a desired time, and a second treatment step of moving, after thefirst treatment step, the object A by a desired distance in thetreatment section 1 of the gas atmosphere to treat the object with thegas again in a desired position for a desired time.

Specific constitutions of the mechanism for holding the object A in thetreatment section 1 and the mechanism for preventing uneven treatmentwhich are used in the first and second treatment steps are as follows.

First Embodiment

For example, the first embodiment employs a structure in which twooperation pieces 11, 12 are disposed back and forth in a directionorthogonal to an advancing direction of the object A in the treatmentsection 1, and the two operation pieces 11, 12 are connected by a singlecylinder rod 10 of a single air cylinder 9 to be simultaneously moved upand down. The two operation pieces 11, 12 are constituted of a firstoperation piece 11 positioned on the object inlet 6 side and a secondoperation piece 12 positioned on the treated object outlet 7 side.

The first and second operation pieces 11, 12 have different lengths: thefirst operation piece 11 being formed to be short, and the secondoperation piece 12 being formed to be long. A rising movement of thecylinder rod 10 is made in stages (two stages) (2-stage strokecylinder).

That is, at a standby stage in which the object A is put into thetreatment section 1, a downward movement of the cylinder rod 10 setsboth of the first and second operation pieces 11, 12 equal to or lowerthan a level of a bearing roller top surface 4 a in the cylinder 2 toclose a passage space of the object A (FIG. 2A).

Thus, the object A put into the treatment section 1 is first retained bythe first operation piece 11, and then held in this position for adesired time to be treated with a gas for a desired time (FIG. 2A).

After the passage of the desired time, when the cylinder rod 10 israised, the short first operation piece 11 is removed from the passagespace of the object A. The object A is moved by a desired distancetoward the outlet 7 to be retained by the second operation piece 12positioned on a downstream side.

Then, in this state, the object A is held for a desired time to betreated again with the gas for a desired time (FIG. 2B).

That is, since the gas treatment operation based on the 2-stageconstitution of the first and second operation pieces 11 and 12 causes amovement of the object A in an advancing direction in the cylinder 2,even the surface a in contact with the bearing roller 4 at the initialgas treatment stage in which the object A is held by the first operationpiece can be sufficiently treated with the gas at the gas treatmentstage in which the object A is held by the second operation piece 12.

Therefore, an interval between the first and second operation pieces 11and 12 is set by adjusting an interval between the adjacent bearingrollers 4 so that the surface a of the object A is in contact with thebearing roller 4 when the object A is held by the first operation piece11 is positioned between the bearing rollers 4 and 4 when the object Ais held by the second operation piece 12.

When the cylinder rod 10 is raised again, the second operation piece 12is removed from the passage space of the object A, and the treatedobject A1 is slid into contact to be lowered toward the outlet 7 (FIG.2C).

Second Embodiment

The first and second operation pieces may be vertically moved bydifferent mechanisms. For example, a specific embodiment will bedescribed with reference to FIGS. 3A to 3C.

A first operation piece 15 and a second operation piece 18 are formed insimilar shapes, and upper ends thereof are connected to different aircylinders 13, 16 to separately operate the operation pieces.

That is, at a standby stage in which the object A is put into thetreatment section 1, by a downward movement of a cylinder rod 14, thefirst operation piece 15 is lowered to be equal to or lower than a levelof a bearing roller top surface 4 a in the cylinder 2 to close a passagespace of the object A (FIG. 3A).

Thus, the object A put into the treatment section 1 is first retained bythe first operation piece 15, and then held in this position for adesired time to be treated with a gas for a desired time (FIG. 3A).

After the passage of the desired time, when the first operation piece 15is raised by a rising movement of the cylinder rod 14 to be removed fromthe passage space of the object A. Thus, the object A is moved by adesired distance toward the outlet 7.

At this time, by a downward movement of a cylinder rod 17, the secondoperation piece 18 of a downstream side is lowered to be equal to orlower than the level of the bearing roller top surface 4 a in thecylinder 2, the passage space of the object A is closed, and the objectA is held in this portion for a desired time to be treated with the gasagain for a desired time (FIG. 3B).

Then, when the cylinder rod 17 of the second operation piece 18 israised again, the second operation piece 18 is removed from the passagespace of the object A, and the treated object A1 is slid into contact tobe lowered toward the outlet 7 (FIG. 3C). Operation effects of theembodiment are similar to those of the first embodiment, and thusdescription thereof will be omitted.

Third Embodiment

The following embodiment is also within the scope of the presentinvention.

That is, a constitution may be employed in which a single operationpiece 19 is disposed in a direction orthogonal to an advancing directionof the object A in the treatment section 1, and the operation piece 19can be swung by a swinging mechanism (not shown). For example, aspecific embodiment will be described by referring to FIG. 4.

The operation piece 19 employs a structure in which the object Aretained in the treatment section 1 is held in a fixed place for adesired time to be treated with a gas, then it is swung back or forth inthe advancing direction, and held in a position to which the object Ahas been moved by a desired distance to be treated with the gas againfor a desired time. Additionally, the operation piece 19 can employ astructure in which the object A retained in the treatment section 1 isrepeatedly swung back and forth in the advancing direction for a desiredtime, and the object A is swung back and forth to be entirely treatedwith a gas.

Then, after completion of the treatment work, the operation piece 19 isswung (rotated) upward to be removed from the passage space of theobject A, whereby the treated object A1 is slid into contact to belowered in a discharging direction. Operation effects of the embodimentare similar to those of the first embodiment, and thus descriptionthereof will be omitted.

Fourth Embodiment

An embodiment in which the treatment section 1 is constituted of only amechanism for holding the object A in a fixed place in the gasatmosphere in the treatment section 1 for a desired time is also withinthe scope of the present invention. The following is an example.Drawings are omitted in this case.

The description is not limitative but only illustrative, and designchanges can be made within the scope of the present invention.

A single plate member of a shape similar to that of the operation piece19 shown in FIG. 4 is disposed in a direction (passage space) orthogonalto an advancing direction of the object in the treatment section 1, andthe single plate member is a mechanism to be vertically moved by an aircylinder or the like. Thus, the object is held by the plate member in adesired position in a gas atmosphere in the treatment section to betreated with a gas for a fixed time, and then the plate member is raisedby a rising movement of the cylinder to be removed from the passagespace of the object, whereby the treated object is slid into contact tobe lowered in a discharging direction.

A conveying mechanism 20 conveys the treated object A1 from the objectoutlet 7 position of the treatment section 1 to the outside of theapparatus. According to the embodiment, the treated object A1 dischargedfrom the outlet 7 of the treatment section 1 is conveyed in a state ofbeing held between a pair of upper and lower belt conveyors 21, 22.

The conveying mechanism 20 should not be limited to the structure of theembodiment. For example, it may be constituted of only the lower beltconveyor 22 (shown) of the embodiment, and a well-known conveyingmechanism is properly selected within the scope of the presentinvention. In the drawing, a reference numeral 37 denotes a freepressing roller disposed above the tail end side pulley 23 of theconveying mechanism 20, 36 a second conveying mechanism, and 38 a thirdconveying mechanism disposed outside the apparatus.

According to the embodiment, the outlet 7 side of the treatment section1 and one end side of the conveying mechanism 20 opposite the outlet 7side are positioned in a desired liquid 33 which has filled a water tank32. Accordingly, the outlet 7 side of the treatment section 1 can beclosed to prevent gas leakage from the liquid 33. In the drawing, areference numeral 8 denotes a guiding member for guiding the treatedobject A1 discharged from the outlet 7 to the conveying mechanism 20.According to the embodiment, water is used for the liquid 33. However, aneutralized liquid may be used.

In the case of the embodiment in which one end side of the conveyingmechanism 20 is positioned in the liquid 33, in order to remove moisturestuck to the treated object A1 out of the liquid 33, for example, adesired moisture removing mechanism such as an air blow 24 is disposedin the vicinity of the conveying mechanism 20. Preferably, the upper andlower belts 21, 22 of the conveying mechanism 20 are totally meshed tocontribute to the moisture removal.

The embodiment has been described based on the short object such as awiper blade formed in a product shape. However, treatment of acontinuous long product formed by extrusion molding with a gas is alsowithin the scope of the present invention, and this gas treatment can becarried out by using the aforementioned method and apparatus.

In this case, since the upper pressing roller 22 can be separated fromthe tail end side pulley 27 of the object feeding mechanism 26, in thecase of the continuous long object, the feeding mechanism 26 and thepressing roller 28 are separated from each other, and only the feedingmechanism 26 is used.

According to the present invention, in the case of treating the longobject with the gas, the constitution is very useful especially when thelong object is set at the time of starting each work (initial stage).

That is, Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKOKU Publication No. 4-19021 is known as aconventional art. According to this art, when the long object is set onthe apparatus at the time of starting work, an operator must directlyenter the box which covers the entire apparatus, directly insert a handinto the water tank to pull out a tip of the long object from the lowerend of the treatment section, hook the pulled out long object on theroller positioned in the water tank to pull it out upward, and take itout of the box.

This operation has not only a problem of workability simply because ofburdensome work, but also it is very dangerous because the worker mustdirectly enter the box to work in which there may be leakage of aharmful gas such as a chlorine gas.

According to the present invention, if the long object is forcibly fedthrough the object inlet 6 of the treatment section 1 by the feedingmechanism 26, a tip of the object passed in the treatment section 1reaches the conveying mechanism 20 through the guiding member 8, and thetip of the object which has reached the conveying mechanism 20 isforcibly pulled out of the box 31 by the conveying mechanism 20. Thus,not only workability can be improved but also very high safety can beprovided without any direct entry of the body of the worker in the boxin which there may be leakage of a harmful gas different from theconventional case.

According to the present invention, there can be provided a method and areaction apparatus which can safely and continuously treat/discharge anobject to be treated without direct contact with a gas atmosphere, andwhich surely/efficiently treat the object with a gas without any uneventreatment.

1. A method for treating an object with a gas, comprising: a step of putting the object having a length shorter than a length of a hermetically sealed treatment section in said hermetically sealed treatment section filled with a treatment gas; a treatment step of treating they object with the gas at a desired position in a gas atmosphere in the treatment section for a desired time; and a step of discharging the treated object from the treatment section after the treatment step; wherein said treatment step comprises: a first treatment step of treating the object put in the treatment section with the gas at said desired position in the gas atmosphere in the treatment section for the desired time; and a second treatment step of moving the object in the treatment section of the gas atmosphere to treat the object with the gas again at a desired position for the desired time so as to cause even treatment of the object after completion of the first treatment step.
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 16. A method for treating an object, such as a wiper blade for cleaning window glasses of automobiles, electric trains and the like, with a gas comprising: a step of putting an object shorter than a length of a hermetically sealed treatment section in said treatment section filled with a treatment gas; a treatment step of treating the object with the gas at a desired position in a gas atmosphere in the treatment section for a desired time; and a step of discharging the treated object from the treatment section after the treatment step, wherein a guiding member for guiding the object from an upper reach side to a lower reach side is arranged in the treatment section in the longitudinal direction of the treatment section, and wherein said treatment step comprises: a first treatment step of treating the object in the treatment section with the gas at the desired position in the gas atmosphere in the treatment section for the desired time; and a second treatment step, after completion of the first treatment step, of moving the object in the treatment section of the gas atmosphere to treat the object with the gas again at a desired position for the desired time so as to cause even treatment.
 17. The method according to claim 16, wherein the treatment section is arranged in a downward slope from the upper reach side to the lower reach side and the guiding member includes bearing rollers arranged at desired intervals in the treatment section.
 18. The method according to claim 17, wherein the downward slope of the treatment section is at an inclined angle set to a degree at which the object contacts with the rollers and falls down from the inlet side to the outlet side by its own weight. 